Truth of Tall Tales
by AnimationGirl
Summary: Before Bao-Gu there was no Tigress. Instead, there was Lan; a small tiger living happily with her family. But in one night her destiny changes, and now the only person she has left is her older brother. Together, they must find a new home, but the wish for revenge is still living. And how exactly was it that little Lan ended up as Tigress the Monster?
1. After Family

A/N: And here it finally is! My new story! So yeah, I feel like you guys know me well enough, so I do not need an introduction. But here's some information you'll need to know:

I believe this will be last 'long' story; a story with many chapters. Sorry, guys, but after summer holiday I start on college, and I won't have that much time to write. But I'll still try and make some wonderful one-shots to you. So please, enjoy this story.

If you can't figure it out; Tigress' name is Lan. She won't be called 'Tigress' as it isn't her birth name and this story takes place before the orphanage.

As I just said; enjoy the story my dear readers.

I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

**Truth of Tall Tales  
After Family **

"I am Liwei. Liwei the Monster!" A threatening growl escaped his lips. "And I am going to tickle you!"

Lan screamed in happiness. Her small body quickly turned around in her attempt of escaping, but she only managed to take two steps before two strong arms grabbed her waist and lifted her up in the air. "No!" she wailed, but her screams were mixed with laughs. "No! Stop it, Liwei!"

Liwei held her up in front of him. "I told you; never tease monster." He then put her on the ground, her back against the floor, and with one paw he started tickling her stomach.

Giggling, Lan started kicking with her small legs. "No!" she kept saying, but the cry disappeared in muffled laughter. "Liweiiiii!"

"You gotta be nice to your big brother, Little Lan," the older tiger told her sternly.

"Nooooo!" she cried back. Her little paws turned into fists and she desperately tried to hit him.

Liwei finally stopped and lifted her up again; this time so high that he had his arms stretched out and she was looking down on his face. He had to admit that she was getting bigger, as he could feel how his arms started to shake beneath her weight while holding her this way. Though, he kept his arms steady. "So, have we now learned that waking up your big brother is a bad idea? Even though his snores sound like a monster's roars?"

Lan nodded, finally stopping laughing. Liwei placed her on the floor with a little grunt, and she placed her hands behind her back while looking innocently at him. She then stuck out her tongue, and turned around, running, before he could get her.

Liwei's face became brighter than the sun as he yelled, "Oh no; now you're in trouble!"

The little tiger screamed happily and ran across the room; towards he mother who was standing in the kitchen. Hiding herself behind the adult tiger's orange dress, Lan hid from her older brother. Her mother, Cuifen, laughed. "What are you doing, Lan?" she asked her gently.

The five year old tiger only giggled, so the reply came from Liwei that came running, "She is getting ready to face her big brother!"

Lan laughed. "You're the big bad tickle monster!"

As Liwei took one step to the right, she did it too, avoiding him as their mother stood in the middle. Finally, Lan saw her chance. Avoiding her brother's paws she ran towards the open door that led out of their little house.

Seeing her father walking just outside, she sprinted the rest of the way and jumped directly into his arms. He grunted a little as she suddenly clung on to him, but then held her so she could not fall down. "Dad!" she shrieked. "Help me!"

At that moment, Liwei reached them, but had to stop as he was facing his father. He smiled at him, and the older tiger smiled back. "What did she do this time?"

"She woke me up while I was sleeping!"

Lan tried to hide her giggles by pressing her face against her father's chest.

Their father, Renshu, laughed at his children's playing. He then looked at the sky. "Well, Liwei, isn't it a bit late for sleeping?"

The tiger looked a bit embarrassed and scratched his neck. "Nope," he then said. "It definitely isn't."

Renshu then broke into a laughter that almost sounded like a roar. The teenager just stared at him, waiting for the fun to fade away. Looking at himself, Liwei brushed off some dust that had been covering his clothes after his little game of tag with his sister.

When their father stopped laughing, he told him, "Your friends are looking for you."

Both his eyebrows and ears were raised in amusement. "Really?"

Renshu turned to look towards the forest that stopped just beside their house. "Yep," he muttered. "Asked me if I had seen you."

"I better get going then," Liwei said, already walking towards the trees.

"I thought you were going to give Lan a lesson about waking you up," Renshu said while smiling. He then put down the squirming Lan who had widened her golden eyes.

"Nah; I'll just do that later then." Liwei started to walk, lifting a paw to say goodbye. "I'll be back at dinner."

Lan stared at him in disappointment as she understood he was not going to chase her anymore. "Liweiii!" she shrieked. "Liweiii!"

Renshu chuckled as his daughter started running again; this time it was her chasing her brother. Entering his house, Renshu left the door open so she could return in some minutes when Liwei had sent her home.

Sighing, Liwei prepared himself. And sure enough; seconds later a body clung onto his left leg. Even though he liked playing with his sister, he was also a fifteen year old boy, soon sixteen actually, that liked hanging out with his friend.

"Where are you going, Li?" his sister asked him, looking up at him.

"Duties," he answered simply.

She cringed. "Duties," she spat out, scowling. "You are leaving because of duties?"

He nodded. "Yes, duties." Still with her clinging to his leg, he started moving. Seeing her home started getting further and further away, Lan's face became one big scowl and she unsheathed her claws.

Even though they were tiny, they were still sharp enough to cut through the fabric of Liwei's green trousers. "Ow!" he exclaimed. Looking down at his little sister, he had had enough. "Okay, time for the girl to go home." He quickly pulled her off his leg, all while she started to cry in dismay.

Placing her so that she was facing the house, he gave her back a soft push. "Go help Mom."

Finally, her shoulders sank, and she started walking with stiff angry steps. Liwei had to hold in his chuckle as he did not want her to turn around again. Seeing how his sister was almost home, the tiger then turned around to disappear among the trees.

When Lan looked over her shoulder, her brother was already gone. Looking at the big house in front of her, she decided that it was not time for her to return yet. Instead she walked around the house to look at the village below her.

Their home was placed on a hill, giving them the view of the whole village that was their home. The valley they lived in was protected by the mountains that surrounded it like a circle. There was only one place where the mountains died out; that was the entrance to the Mountain Valley.

As Lan sat down on the soft grass she looked down to see her neighbors, her friends walking around in the small streets. Only few saw her, and when they did, they would send her a soft smile.

Lan blinked her eyes as she looked at the blue sky. It was the last days of summer and now the autumn would soon come. The little tiger yawned, resting her head in her paws. Her little yellow dress became dirty as some of the earth she was lying on clung to it.

Finally, her father called her name. "Lan?"

"No, Dad," she sighed as she felt her big paws lifting her up. "Can't I stay here?"

"Your mother needs your help in the kitchen," Renshu told her as he laid her on his big arm, so she would not fall down. He then muttered under his breath, "You are too big to be carried." Lan ignored that, and instead turned around to lie on her stomach, gracefully so she did not fall down. She quickly found what she was looking for; the biggest scar on her father's arm.

The tip of her finger trailed down with it, as she felt the smooth skin. "Can I get one of those?"

Renshu looked at her in surprise, though he already knew she was an admirer of his battle scars. "No, we wouldn't want that," he told her gently as they entered the house.

"Why?" she asked, still not taking her eyes off his healed wound.

"Because it hurts very much."

"More than touching the flames?" she asked, remembering her experience with pain.

He nodded. "More than that."

Lan sighed, looking up at him. "You're a hero, right, Dad?" she asked with a voice full of admiration.

Renshu chuckled at the sight of her big eyes that were awaiting an answer. "Well, I've heard that word before," he told her, placing a little kiss on her forehead.

* * *

"You're kidding!"

Liwei shook his head. "I am definitely not! Should I be scared of a girl?"

Delun squinted. "You didn't kiss her!" he exclaimed, not believing the tiger. But as he only got a small smile in return, the fox widened his eyes. Delun had been best friends with Liwei since they had been kids, and it was the fox's idea to invite the others into the group long time ago. Delun was proud of being a part of it, and nobody dared to call him small anymore.

"Did you?" Guowei, the lynx, asked, eyes full of excitement. As Liwei nodded, he happily jumped to pat the tiger on the shoulder. "Good work, boy!" He had been Delun's neighbor, but it was first later that they really became friends. Guowei did not exactly seem as the friendly type, and because he was missing the half of his ear after a fight, his look often scared people away.

As Liwei heard a snort coming from behind him, he turned to face another of his friend. "Don't believe me, Ju?" he asked the deer.

Ju was one of the few females in the group, and even though she could act shy, she always stated her opinion. Pretty as she was, Liwei knew she was friends with most of the girls in the village, but the deer mostly hung out with his little group of friends. And annoyingly enough, she was one of the oldest of the group as she had turned the seventeen years.

The deer touched her dress before looking up at him, making sure it fit her perfectly. "I am just saying that I talked with Niu yesterday, and she did not say a word about you kissing her." She gave him a sly smile. "Besides; I know it's not her you want to kiss."

The boys let out a moan, as if it was their pride that had been hurt. Liwei just glared at her, ready to defend himself, but then another person entered the scene.

"Who kissed who?" the hyena asked, gracefully jumping down from one of the trees.

"Luli!" Delun exclaimed. "You made it!"

The hyena slowly came closer, paws behind her back. "Of course I did. And I brought company."

Behind her was an ox, big brown fur and long horns. He grinned when he saw their faces. "Don't I get a warm welcome?" the ox asked them.

Liwei took a step forwards, returning the smile. "Well, honestly, Minsheng, I thought you were getting ready for your wedding."

The ox let out a snort. "Please; I haven't even seen the girl yet! And the marriage is for going to be after the winter." Minsheng was absolutely the oldest, but after he became twenty years, he had started spending less time with the group. One of the reasons was that his parents had found him a girl that they wanted him to marry.

Luli sat down on a nearby rock, swinging her legs back and forth. "So," she said, "what did I hear about a kiss?"

Ju rolled her eyes. "Liwei says he kissed Niu, though I doubt it."

The hyena looked at Liwei in such a way that he stared at the ground instead of her. She spoke slowly, "Well, that's not exactly a surprise. Niu will kiss every boy that get close to her; she's pretty desperate."

"Jealous, Luli?" Liwei asked her with a grin.

She let out a false moan and fell to the ground clutching her heart. "Oh yes, mighty Liwei," she shrieked with false sweetness in her voice. "I have loved you since the first time I laid my eyes on you, and the thought of you kissing someone else just makes me want to rip my own heart out! And next time I see this Niu…"

The second after, she had jumped up from the ground to smack Liwei in the back of his head. "I will tell her she kissed the big thick-headed fool that we call Liwei!" she exclaimed, calmly watching him as he rubbed his head.

"Aw, come on, Luli! You can't hide hurt feelings! So let me tell you; the only reason why I kissed Niu was because I made a bet with my sister," Liwei said proudly.

Luli crossed her arms. "Really? Isn't that a bit early? Losing all your money as a five year old?"

Delun laughed at her comment. "So what was the bet about?"

The tiger jumped onto the big rock Luli had just left, standing so everybody could see him. The forest around them had gotten quiet as they were the only ones there. Soon it would be evening and the light would disappear completely.

"I told my sister it would take me less than a minute for me to kiss a girl," Liwei announced proudly. He leaned his head down towards them, "And it took me twenty-two seconds!"

"That's just because you took her by surprise," Luli snorted. "And because she didn't know about it. I am pretty sure she gave you one good slap after that kiss."

Liwei moved so he sat down, swinging his legs happily and just avoiding hitting the hyena. "Actually I ran off before she could tell who it was," he happily announced. He then leaned forward and grabbed her ear, gently shaking it. "So you don't have any competition, Luli."

Minsheng let out a deep laughter, while the hyena just pulled herself away from him. "Liwei!"

"That's me!"

"You must be absolutely crazy!" she told him sternly, turning around to stand by Ju.

Delun shook his head. "Nope," the fox said. "He is just way too confident."

"I am just being me, and you really can't blame me for that. You see, I've got my irresistible charm after my mother; the charm not even you can resist, Luli. And my strength comes after my father of course. You know him; the one who saved the valley," Liwei reminded them, jumping down from the rock.

Guowei let out a mocking laughter. "Yeah, and from whom did you get your idiotic confidence?"

Ju laughed with him, her brown eyes sparkling. "Probably his baby sister. Haven't you seen the way she gives him commands?"

Liwei let them laugh, but then rolled his eyes. "Who's the idiot now? My sister was born _after_ me; I can't have gotten anything from her. You see; my confidence is my completely own."

"Well, you need to get rid of some of it, or else you'll just end up in trouble," Luli told him, placing her paws on her hips. "But you always end up in troubles no matter what."

"Good thing my father told me how to fix problems," the cocky tiger said.

Minsheng rolled his eyes at his friend's behavior. "You might to able to fix things, Liwei, but that doesn't mean you are able to save the valley like your father did."

Guowei nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if you ever face Tengfei, I think you will either run or he will start laughing."

Liwei growled slightly at the name. Tengfei was a malicious bear that had tried taking over their valley many years ago. Renshu had managed to stop him in a big battle, and had therefore become the hero of the valley. Tengfei returned defeated to his hideouts, but had promised revenge.

"My father has been teaching me how to fight for quite some time now. You'll just have to wait until I find it necessary to fight," Liwei told them sternly, walking among them. By the sound of their sighs it was clear that none of them truly believed him.

Well, the truth was that he had been taught a little. Not much. For some reason his father did not want him to become a warrior. Liwei guessed it was because he was afraid of losing him.

Luli walked past him, not even turning her head around as she called, "I am pretty tired of Liwei's bragging. I am going to the river."

Liwei scowled as he knew exactly what she was doing. She knew that his father had forbidden him to go to the river for some reason, and now she was testing him. Keeping his temper in check, Liwei looked at the sky and saw it was time to head home. "Well, I promised I would be back at dinner, so you'll have to go without me," he told Luli.

"I'll go to the river too," Ju said, following the hyena.

The fox, the lynx and the ox followed them. "See ya later, Liwei," they told him.

The tiger tried not to let his ears drop. "See ya," he muttered as he watched them go.

* * *

"What are you doing there, Lan?" Liwei asked tiredly from his bed, trying not to think about his friends that were busy having fun right now.

"I am making a gift for Mom and Dad," his sister announced happily, not removing her glance from the paper she was working on.

Liwei just continued staring at the ceiling as he lied in his bed. He shared room with his sister, and some time ago, their parents had told them go to bed. Still, both tigers were awake. "And what is it?"

"A painting."

His golden eyes turned towards her form that was lying on the madras. "Mother is going to get mad if you spill the ink."

She scowled slightly at his comment. "I am not going to spill," she told him sternly.

"You said that the last time too," Liwei breathed out. "And I don't think you can convince her to believe that your pee is black."

"I don't pee the bed!"

Liwei sighed as he did not want to start this discussion again. He rolled over to his side, facing the wall. "Goodnight, Lan."

Realizing she could not finish her gift tonight, Lan gently hid the paper under her bed. Placing herself under the blankets, she curled herself into a ball. "Goodnight, Li."

* * *

"You sure you kids are allowed to be out of bed this late?" the ox mocked his friends as they walked along the river.

Guowei growled at his comment. "Shut up, Minsheng." He kicked the water with his foot, causing it to splash.

But the ox just continued, "Like seriously; do your parents even know what you are doing?"

Delun jumped onto the ox's back, causing him to fall slightly forward. "At least we are not getting _old_."

Ju and Luli just rolled their eyes over the boys' discussion. None of them were really in the mood for swimming, so they all walked on the bank, as they knew the river quickly could turn deep.

"Have you thought of what to wear at your wedding yet, Minsheng?" Guowei asked, following the fox's strategy to make him mad. "You have to get something else than those rags of yours."

"Very funny," the ox muttered sarcastically as the two other boys laughed. "At least I am getting married; you two are going to be singles forever."

"Still better than marrying some snobby ox," Delun snorted. "And she is probably fat too."

"Hey, boys," Ju said, getting their attention before they would try and kill each other. "What's that?" she asked, pointing down the river. In the distance, they could see some shadowed figures swimming in the water, crossing the river.

Looking closer, they could also see some of the strangers on the bank, quickly disappearing into the forest. But the night made it hard to see, and for some reason the teenagers did not feel like getting closer.

"Who are they?" Delun asked, squinting.

Luli then had a horrible realization as she saw how the last stranger left the water to enter the valley. "They are heading towards the village," she said, clearly stunned.

Just as she finished her sentence, the first scream could be heard from their home.


	2. Huge Loss

A/N: Well, I hope you liked the first chapter of this story. But now… all the sadness comes. Come on; you could have figured out by the ending of the last chapter! So yeah; this chapter involves things that are the reason why this story is rated T.

I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

**Truth of Tall Tales  
Huge Loss **

It was the scream that woke up Liwei. He immediately sat up, turning his head around rapidly. "Lan, was that you?" he asked his sister. Sometimes the girl would have horrible nightmares so not even their mother could get her to calm down. When that happened, Liwei started to tell her one of the stories he made it just for her. It would distract her and in the end it would stop her tears.

But his sister was still sleeping and only lifted her head a tiny bit when he called her name. "What?" she asked, her voice drowsy from sleep.

Liwei could hear that his parents were getting up, and so he understood that he could not just stay in bed. "Never mind. Go back to sleep," he told Lan.

She did not need him to repeat his words, as her head quickly fell down again and she was once again back in her dream world. Liwei quickly took his pants and vest back on, and quietly left the room. Closing the door behind him, he saw his parents at the door that was leading out of the house.

"What's going on?" he whispered. As he came closer, he saw that Cuifen was busy helping Renshu with putting on his armor. His sword was leaning against the wall. "Are you going to fight?"

"Liwei, go back inside," his father ordered, finally putting the rest of the metal on his body. He then attached the sword to his belt and took the first step outside.

The young tiger looked at his mother, and fear started to fill him when he saw her big eyes. She was still wearing her nightclothes, and her arms were shaking slightly when she shoved him back to his room.

"What's going on?" he asked her again, grabbing her paws to prevent her from forcing him back.

She bit her lip and turned her head away. "I am not sure. Liwei, just please go back inside," he pleaded him.

Her eyes and voice almost got him to retreat back to his room. But then he heard more scream coming from outside and the smell of smoke filled his nostrils. Looking at the now open door, Liwei could see that his father had already left.

"Liwei, go back now."

But he pulled himself away from her, running towards the cupboard in the living room where he knew his knife was waiting for him. It was not big, and he never really used it to fight. But a dagger was better than nothing.

"Liwei!"

"Stay with Lan," he ordered, backing out of the room. A part of him was absolutely terrified, but he needed to know what was going on. Besides; his father was out there and maybe he needed his help.

Cuifen took a step forward as she wanted to go after his son, but then remembered her little daughter in the room just beside her. Forcing her tears down, she quietly looked inside to see that Lan was sleeping. Closing the door again, Cuifen could do nothing but wait for her husband and her son to return.

* * *

"Dad!" Liwei called, running into the darkness. "Dad!" As he ran down the hill, he had the sickening feeling that he was inside a nightmare. The peaceful village that he knew so well, was now turned into ruins and fire.

Around his neighbors he could see strangers, warriors, with weapons pointed at his friends. They were sneering, growling, hate in their eyes. Liwei tried to avoid them, but sometimes they would get a glimpse of him. Then he would lose them by turning around corners or jumping over piles of what once had been a house.

But he could not find his father. The smoke made his eyes sting, and his breathing began to become labored as panic filled his heart. Their home was attacked.

"Liwei?"

The tiger's ears turned towards the sound. Stopping running, he slowly walked towards the heap of rocks and pieces of woods the voice had come from. Kneeling down, he removed some of it and found to his surprise a goat.

"Mister Bai," he muttered, helping up his neighbor. Bai was the person that lived closest to the tiger family, just down the hill. The goat was not exactly young, and Liwei could clearly remember the day Bai's wife had died. The young tiger had cried, remembering how the goat once had given him sweets to cheer him up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, fine. Just couldn't get out of the way before the building crushed," the gat explained while trying to find his staff that helped him walking.

Liwei's golden eyes spotted the long piece of wood. Grabbing it carefully, he gave it to Bai. "What's going on?" he asked again, hoping to get an answer this time.

Bai widened his eyes as if he first now realized who he was talking to. "Liwei, you have to get your mother and sister out of here!"

"What's…?"

"Don't you get it, boy? It's Tengfei! He has come back!" The goat started shaking over is whole body. "For revenge, don't you see? Your father killed two of his sons last time he scared that bear away. Now he is back, and I don't even dare to think of what will happen if he finds your family."

Liwei stared at him, his face frozen in shock. He sure had heard that his father and some of the men from the village had attacked Tengfei's home, as they thought it lied too close to the valley. That was how it had been going on for decades! Tengfei would attack, they would attack, Tengfei would attack, they would attack…

The tiger then shook his head to get himself out of his thoughts. "We gotta get you out of here." A part of him briefly reminded him that panicking villagers were all around him, but right now he could only focus at one thing.

Bai shook his head, causing his beard to swing back and forth. "No, don't think of me. It's your family you have to take care of now."

* * *

"Momma?" Lan asked as Cuifen picked her up. The older tiger sat down on Liwei's bed, while placing her daughter on her lap. The five year old had tilted her head in confusion, as if she was not sure if it all was just a prank. "Did Li and Dad go?"

"Yes, darling," her mother answered, letting her stand up so she could look her in the eyes.

Lan was not satisfied with that answer though. "Where are they?"

"Just helping out in the village; a fire happened," Cuifen quickly said, lying. "But it's far away from our home and it won't hurt anyone."

"Okay," Lan answered, not liking how sad her mother looked like. As she met her mother's eyes, she saw the same golden color as her own. People said that she looked like her mother; though, Lan thought that they were wrong, as she was much smaller than her mother.

Cuifen then pulled her daughter into a hug, gently rubbing her back. "Lan?"

"What?"

"I have taught you how to be a good girl," Cuifen said gently, still looking over the shoulder of her daughter. "Now you have to remember that, darling."

Lan's wrinkled her nose, twisting her face into an expression that she did not usually wear. She was confused, finding her mother's lines a bit funny, but on the same time deep down she was scared. Something was going on, and maybe it was more than just that fire.

Cuifen finally pulled her away to give her a kiss on the forehead. "Go back to sleep. I'll wait for them to return."

Placing Lan in her own bed, she put the covers in top of her. Lan stuck out her head to see her mother leaving the room. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Glancing nervously into the living room, Cuifen added gently, "Stay in bed."

And Lan did what she was told. Even when she heard the gasp coming from the living room and the sound of someone hitting the ground with a dull thump.

* * *

Renshu was furious. With a roar he swung his sword, but it just narrowly missed the bear in front of him. "You're getting old, Renshu," Tengfei taunted him, while circling around him.

"You made a mistake of coming here," the tiger growled threatening, gripping his sword harder. But he had only to hurt the bear a few times, and none of the cuts slowed him down.

What scared the tiger further was the fact that there was only him and about ten men from the village that had the abilities of being a warrior. Many had gotten too old since the last battle they had been part of had happened over ten years ago. When they had attacked Tengfei's family…

Now the bear had created an army of his own, and there was no way that they could beat so many warriors.

Tengfei had been waiting for him, and none of his guard attacked him unless he ordered them too. This fight was between Tengfei and Renshu. Meanwhile, the warriors would attack the innocent villagers.

"Don't you get it, Renshu?" the bear asked. His black fur was as dark as the night and some places it was gone and instead battle scars could be seen. His claws were long, sharp, just as dangerous as if he had used a blade. "You deserve this."

Renshu jumped away to avoid the attack, he then quickly made a kick to shove the bear away. "Stay away from the village," he ordered with his deep voice mixed with a growl.

"Don't you worry," Tengfei told him. "We won't kill them; they will be excellent as slaves when we take over the valley. But… then there is your family."

"Don't you touch them!" Renshu growled, leaping at his enemy again.

The bear just took a step backwards, amused by the tiger's anger. "I will destroy all of you, as the pests you are!"

With a wordless yell, Renshu swung his sword and this time he managed to create a long wound across the bear's chest. Tengfei looked down shortly, then he lifted up his head with a grin. "And when you are gone, who can protect them?"

Renshu opened his mouth, but was cut off as he heard the yell. "Dad!" Looking to the left, he saw his son in the distance. Horror was his expression and the young tiger took a step forward, even though there was no way he could reach his father with the distance that was between them.

"Liwei," the tiger breathed out, scared that his son might run towards him. Tengfei looked at the distract tiger in front of him. Then he lashed out with his paw, claws hitting the throat.

Liwei let out a strangled scream of horror as he saw his father fall. He could not be dead. He just could not! But the bear in the distance straightened up to look at him, and Liwei could see the blood on his claws.

_Protect the family. _

Liwei turned around, dropping on all fours as he sprinted back to his home.

Tengfei grinned, knowing that his warriors would be there before the young tiger.

Some part of him just could not believe it. It was a nightmare, nothing more than a nightmare. This was such a thing that only happened in his sister's bad dreams; murders, blood and destruction.

And now when it came so close, he saw no other solution than running. And so he did. He felt the cold earth under his paws, ragged breathing as he desperately tried to get enough air into his lungs so he could keep moving.

As he reached the house, the door was still open. It was swinging limply back and forth, its movement caused by the weak wind. "Mother!" He stepped inside, panting with a wild look in his eyes.

"Too late, boy."

He spun around. In his home a lynx was standing, holding a bloody knife. Beside him on the floor was Cuifen, his mother, lying lifelessly. It was her blood that was standing the knife; she was dead and he had killed her.

His mother that had kissed him goodnight every time he went to bed as kid. His mother that had taught how to speak, run, how to live. His mother that had taught him how to treat people the way you wished people treated you. His mother that now was dead, and he could not do a thing about it.

Liwei was shaking, mind slowly fading away until there was only hate and sorrow back. He stared at the lynx that was still grinning. He wished to kill him. He wished to take his knife and then plunge it into the lynx's heart. He wanted to yell that he was going to kill him.

But he did none of those things. Instead, he turned around, running as fast as he could. He did not even open the door; he simply smashed against it, breaking it, but he did enter the room.

And there she was, still lying in bed, staring at him with those big eyes. "Liwei?" In the next second he had picked her up, pressing her against his own body. She was alive. His sister was now the only family he had left, and now he was clinging on to her as if his own life depended on it.

Still not letting go of her, he started searching through their cupboard. "Li?" she asked him again, eyes started to be filled with scared tears. She did not understand what was going on, but she could sense his fear and panic.

It only took him some seconds before he had picked up his sister's dress and little shoes; he then stuffed everything into his pocket. They had to leave, but if she could only wear her nightdress, then the nights would become too cold for her. Where could they go? He knew they could not stay in the village, so the forest seemed like the best place to go right now.

But in his state of panic, Liwei had forgotten all about the lynx that had taken his mother's life. It was like a demon; but now Liwei had stepped into a new room where he could feel the living beating heart of someone he knew, and frankly it just felt like he had entered a safe world. At least for now.

"We gotta leave," he muttered, turning to the doorway to carry his scared sister out of here. Well, to be honest, he believed he was even more frightened than her. And it definitely did not help as he saw they could not leave their room, as a big bear and two warriors, the lynx and now also an armored pig, were standing in the doorway, blocking their way.

"Good work, Da," Tengfei said, nodding to the lynx. Liwei backed some step away while Lan buried her head in his shoulder. The bear grinned evilly as he asked the children, "What are your names?"

Liwei just stared at him, letting out something that was a mix between a sob and a growl. With his paw on his sister's back, he held her tighter as he did not want her to see their parents' murderer.

Tengfei lost his patience and picked up his sword, pointing at the two tigers. "I said; what are your names?"

"Lan." At the sound moment the little girl sobbed out her name, Liwei hissed into her ear, "Shhh."

The bear grinned, having gotten one name out of two. Meeting the boy's glance, he then looked down to stare at the crying girl. When the bear moved his glance, Liwei found no other choice. "Liwei," he muttered, thinking about how his knife was hidden in his pocket. But while carrying his sister, he could not grab it.

And then there was the fact that he was not a warrior, but those in front of him surely were. "And you are Renshu's kids?"

"Yes."

Liwei noticed the smirk on the bear's face. "Then I guess there is nothing to be mistaken." He then gave the lynx, Da, a short nod. Liwei's body tensed up when he saw the lynx's hand travel down to pick up the knife that was already stained with his mother's blood.

And, before he even knew what he was doing, he was running towards the wall. He remembered how he once, in anger, had kicked a hole in it as a little kid. Mother had scolded him, while his father had grinned, seeing his son's strength.

Embracing Lan, he took the hit by the shoulder and sure enough, the wood broke, pieces of it flying through the air. Liwei did not take the time to stop, instead he quickly placed Lan on his back, making sure she was taking a firm grip on his shoulders. "Hang on, Lan."

Dropping to all fours, he ran into the woods, disappearing in the darkness along with his sister.

Tengfei had covered his eyes as the boy smashed through the wall, but now he regretted that choice. "After them!" he ordered, growling. "The family must be destroyed!"

His warriors nodded, leaving the house and were soon joined by more comrades.

As the bear looked down, he noticed a piece of paper that was lying under the bed. Only the corner of it could be seen, but Tengfei moved it closer to him by placing his foot on it.

It was a painting of the family he was just about to destroy. And by the look of how badly it was drawn, he guessed it was the little one who had made it.

Rubbing his foot against the floor with the paper stuck in the middle, Tengfei easily destroyed the painting.

* * *

"The kids got away!"

"Go get them!"

"This way!"

Spreading out, they were about to enter the forest, but stopped as they understood how big it was. Da growled, "They can't have gone far…" He then hears a noise and spun around to see an old goat limping away from the tigers' house.

Squinting, Da called out, "You! Stop!"

Bai looked up, arms shaking of tiredness. "What?"

"You saw the children leaving," the lynx growled with the other warriors waiting behind him. "In which direction did they go?"

The goat lifted an eyebrow. "And why should I say that?"

The next second, Da had slammed his fist into the back of his head, causing him to fall forwards into the ground. Bai's shaking form finally looked up again, dirt on his face.

"Where did they go?!"

The goat lowered his head. "South," he muttered, obviously ashamed.

Da smiled; he knew everybody would speak. It was just a question about when. But then he noticed the small smile on the goat's face. "Go north," he ordered his warriors.

They looked stunned. "But didn't he…?"

"He's a friend of the family; he won't give them away." The lynx kicked the goat, causing him to groan. "Nice try, old man."

Then they left, going north into the forest. Bai lifted his head from the earth, still shaking. "Idiots," he muttered, while slowly getting to his feet. Because the goat had seen that the children went east.

* * *

Lan was crying on his back as they ran. He could feel her body shake with each sob and the tears were starting to get through his vest. Honestly, he was not even sure how he could keep himself from crying.

Right now all the mattered was just to run. He did not even look where they went in the start; he just needed to get away from the bear. But as they had been running for over an hour, and he slowly realized that they were getting away, he looked around to see what they were heading towards.

Slowing down, he finally stopped; his chest still rising and falling rapidly as he panted. "Lan?" he asked with a hoarse voice. "You can come down."

The girl did what she told, her legs shaking so much that it made his heart ache. Though, he did not look great either. His face had gotten so pale that not even his orange fur could hide it. "Come on, Lan," he muttered, holding out his arms.

Crying, she let him lift her up, and she then clung on to him as she threw her little arms around her neck. Not knowing what to say to comfort her, he just patted her back. He continued waling, though, this time he stayed on two legs so he could hold her.

"Li, who were they?" Lan finally asked, as she wanted to know what exactly had happened. She had just heard the screams, smelled the fire and seen the weapon pointed at them; all this just created a serious confusion.

"Just... bad guys doing evil stuff," Liwei gasped out, not knowing what to say. How could he tell her that they were trying to kill them?

"But that only happens in the stories," the small tiger whimpered. "Right, Li?"

The older tiger did not answer, but continued looking around. Sure enough; they had been here before. At least, he had. When he had been younger, he had built a secret hiding place out here; in case he got into a fight with his parents.

"Hey, Lan?" he said, hoping to find the right place for them to rest. He kneeled down and removed some fallen branches; and there it was. The old little cave. It was not actually a cave; more like a crack in the cliff they could both fit in.

"What's that?"

"That's our home for tonight," he muttered and put her down. They both crawled in, and he placed the branches back on so no one could see them.

As he made Lan wear her normal dress on top of her nightclothes, the little tiger looked up at him. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

Liwei widened his eyes as he realized she did not know anything about their deaths. "They… they are coming tomorrow."

"Why are you crying, Li?" Seeing her brother like this made her own eyes wet.

Liwei lied down beside her. "Just go to sleep, Little Lan." He tried to ignore the sob in his voice as he knew the family was never going to be the same again.

* * *

A/N: And I finally updated! But thank NJ7009, it was because of her I updated (you know why, NJ :P). So yeah, I know the story seems pretty boring (as in seen before) right now, but believe me, I have plans. So just wait, okay? And I'll try and update more often, but can't promise because of my exams…


End file.
